J Winston Salon home to father-daughter barbers

Sep. 30, 2013

Tresha Winston poses with her dad, Dean Grace. Winston followed in her father's footsteps as a barber and recently took over the J Winston Salon at 1845 W. Main St., in front of the Advantage Club. / Jessica Phelps/The Advocate

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Advocate Reporter

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Stop in for a haircut

J Winston Salon is located in the front of the Advantage Club at 1845 W. Main St. in Newark. The salon does not have set hours: Stylists typically show up about

9 a.m. Monday through Saturday and leave after their last appointments. The salon is closed on Sundays. To make an appointment or for more information, call the salon at 740-522-2995.

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NEWARK — When Tresha Winston told her father, Dean Grace, that she wanted to become a barber just like him, he couldn’t understand it and told her to find a better job.

Today, as the two stand side by side in J Winston Salon, which Winston owns and employs her father in, Grace said he couldn’t be more proud of her.

Grace is going on 50 years as a barber, having owned his own shop in the Southgate Shopping Center for more than 30 years.

He’s not sure what initially intrigued him about barbering, he just thought maybe he would like it. So he enrolled in barber school straight out of high school, and over time, he did find that he loved the work.

Winston decided to follow in her father’s footsteps and go to barber school in 1988. It’s rare to find a woman barbering, as they typically go to cosmetology school and leave the barbering up to the guys.

But Winston said there was no contest between the two fields.

“I always knew I wanted to do barbering,” she said. “The men are just more fun to be around. It’s just easier for me.”

Before long, the two were working together in Grace’s barbershop. But after 30 years in the business, Grace wanted to scale back a bit: While he didn’t want to hang up his shears, he wanted to back away from the ownership side.

That’s where Winston came in. She just couldn’t stand the thought of not continuing the family business, so she decided to open J Winston Salon in 2005.

The salon offers haircuts, coloring, facials and other salon services during the week from Monday through Saturday. J Winston Salon employs two cosmetologists and three barbers, and of course, Grace is among them.

“Now (Dad) gets to work for fun and I get to work for real. But I still get to tell him what to do,” Winston said, as she and her dad broke into laughter.

“She really is the boss,” Grace said, shrugging his shoulders.

The role reversal hasn’t led to any tension between the two, who said they have always worked well together. Other than Grace occasionally pretending he can’t hear his daughter when she’s giving instructions, the two could not get along better.

Probably the most unique feature of the salon is its location: The small but cozy salon is nestled inside the former day care center at the Advantage Club at 1845 W. Main St. in Newark. Winston’s fiance owns the club and offered the space up to her when she was starting the business.

“I think it’s great because moms can come in and drop their kids off at the club’s day care, go to the gym and get their hair done,” Winston said. “We’re really like a one-stop shop.”